2017 Business for Peace Award winners named

ICC Secretary General John Danilovich joins Governing Mayor of Oslo Raymond Johansen in the Norwegian capital on 28 March 2017 to announce the four winners of the 2017 Business for Peace Awards.

The Awards recognise outstanding business people who have been able to achieve business success while acting in an ethically responsible way. Past Business for Peace Award winners include Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever; Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group and Ouided Bouchamaoui, Nobel Prize winner and ICC Tunisia Honorary Chairman.

“This year’s award recipients are prime examples of how incorporating sustainability into corporate strategies and cultures can help businesses to thrive. We know the UN Sustainable Development Goals offer a tremendous new model for inclusive growth,” Mr Danilovich said.
The 2017 Business for Peace honourees will be celebrated at the Business for Peace Award Ceremony on 16 May at Oslo City hall. Gro Harlem Bruntland former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director-General of the World Health Organization will deliver a keynote address.

Honourees are selected by an independent jury of Nobel Prize winners in Peace and in Economics. ICC regional offices (national committees) as well as local chambers of commerce, members of the ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF), United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) local offices assist in the global nomination process by leveraging their respective networks in the search for outstanding business people who have been able to achieve business success while acting in an ethically responsible way.

Having overcome obstacles and challenges unknown to most successful business people, Ms Shahnaz began her career at Morgan Stanley (New York) and Merrill Lynch (Hong Kong), before moving to Grameen Bank (Bangladesh).

In 2009, Ms Shahnaz founded Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), the world’s first public trading platform dedicated to connecting Impact Enterprises with mission-aligned investment. IIX Foundation (formerly known as Shujog) was established shortly after, complementing the work of IIX by fostering growth, innovation and market readiness of SEs.

Elon Musk (South Africa/USA)
Mr Musk is recognised for advancing the technology frontier to address the systemic challenges of climate change and building societal trust in sustainable energy and transportation. The Award also recognises his leadership in the automotive industry and for efforts in tackling some of the world’s most complex challenges.

Harley Seyedin (Iran/USA)
An Iranian immigrant to the US, Mr Seyedin receives the Award for “businessworthy” entrepreneurship. He is also recognised for promoting societal inclusiveness and opportunities for the poor and building a multinational electricity and low-carbon infrastructure development. He has spent more than 20 years in China, always seeking to promote a development model that is being socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. Mr Seyedin has been President of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China for the past nine years.

Murad Al-Katib (Canada)
The son of Turkish immigrants to Canada, Mr Al-Katib is recognised for his leadership in sustainable agriculture and for his contribution to feeding millions of refugee families during the on-going Syrian crisis.

Mr Al-Katib is President, CEO and board member of AGT Food and Ingredients Inc., which buys lentils and other pulses from producers and sells them around the world. The company has grown into one of the world’s largest lentil companies, handling about a quarter of global supplies.

AGT is a major partner of the United Nations World Food Programme through its operations in Canada and Turkey. AGT estimates that its supplies to the programme feeds more than 4 million refugee families each year.